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Hong Kong has risen three places to fourth in a global ranking for digital competitiveness, driven by strong performance in talent and education, but still trailing regional rival Singapore. The International Institute for Management Development’s report lauded Hong Kong for its “impressive upward trajectory” while also highlighting poorer performance in areas such as government cybersecurity capacity and its legal framework for privacy protection. The 2025 Digital Competitiveness Ranking, released on Tuesday, ranked 69 economies worldwide to measure the extent to which the adoption of technologies leads to changes in government practices, business models and wider society. Switzerland secured top spot, followed by the United States and Singapore. Hong Kong’s fourth-place finish marks its best performance since 2021, when it ranked second overall. The city then fell to ninth in 2022 and 10th in 2023, before climbing slightly to seventh in 2024. Among the three major indicators, Hong Kong ranked fifth in “Knowledge”, third in “Technology” and climbed five places from last year to 10th in “Future Readiness”. Among the sub-indices, Hong Kong topped the rankings in technological framework and adaptive attitudes, the latter driven by the city’s high smartphone ownership rate and positive attitude towards globalisation. The institute said the city’s digital competitiveness was also strengthened by having the world’s highest percentage of science graduates. The city also ranked in the top 10 for talent, business agility and training and education. But it performed significantly worse in the IT Integration subfactor, placing 29th overall. According to the institute, this was mainly due to low scores in government cybersecurity capacity and the city’s legal framework for privacy protection, which ranked 44th and 49th, respectively. Hong Kong’s strong showing in the rankings echoes its performance in the institute’s September report on talent competitiveness, where the city also secured fourth overall. A government spokesman said the institute’s latest report “continued to recognise Hong Kong as one of the most digitally competitive economies in the world”. The spokesman added that the government had been striving to enhance the strategic layout of innovation and technology infrastructure to drive development and create new “quality productive forces”. “Going forward, the [government] will continue to promote closer collaboration among the government and the industry, academia, research and investment sectors; consolidate and enhance our competitive edge in the global market; as well as foster the cultivation of new quality productive forces,” the spokesman said. Singapore, meanwhile, dropped to third in this year’s rankings after having seized the top spot in 2024. But the institute nonetheless said the city “remains a digital powerhouse” and highlighted its “exceptional strength” in its regulatory framework, where it ranked first. The institute also noted that Singapore topped the number of high-tech patent grants per capita worldwide and ranked second in both its PISA maths educational assessment score and the effectiveness of its banking and financial services. After Hong Kong, the remaining jurisdictions rounding out the top 10 were Denmark, the Netherlands, Canada, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates and Taiwan.
